UPDATED: The UK has the most developed web of angel investor networks in Europe with 15,000 angel investors dotted around the country, according to the UK Business Angels Association (UKBAA).
They’ve been generous with their cash, too. A report from accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young found a record £2.3bn was invested into UK start-ups via the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) in the year ending April 2022 into 4,480 firms.
Clearly, angel investor networks play a huge part in getting the UK’s start-ups on their feet. But where do you turn to if you want to find an angel investor network? Is it just word of mouth and who you know? To help you, Growth Business has put together a list of the top 20 angel investor networks you should know about.
We have listed angel investment networks that cover a variety of regions, sectors, investment sizes, and given examples of previous investments so you can make the right choices as to how to grow your business.
Growth Business guide to angel investor networks
| Angel network | Regions | Investment size | Sectors | No. of investments each year | No of exits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advantage Business Angels | UK | £25,000 – £300,000 | SaaS, Fintech, EdTech, MedTech | 10 | 1 |
| Angel Investment Network | Worldwide | Up to £5m | Any | N/A | N/A |
| AngelClubRCA | N/A | £100,00 – £500,000 | Any | 5-15 | 0 |
| Angels Den | UK | £100,000 – £1m | Any | 40 | 7 |
| Angels Invest Wales | Wales | Any | Any | 30 | N/A |
| Dorset Business Angels | All UK with focus in South | £50,000 – £1m | Any | 5 | 5 |
| DSW Angels | UK | £300,000 – £1m | Software, digital and other tech businesses | 4-5 | 0 |
| Envestor | UK | £250,090 -£5m | Tech, CleanTech, FinTech, MedTech, EdTech | 15 | 21 |
| Equity Gap | Scotland (and those businesses willing to relocate to Scotland) | Up to £500,000 | Any excluding retail/property | 5 | 0 |
| Finstock Capital | UK | £100,000 – £2m | Any | 30 | N/A |
| FSE Group | Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire, Cornwall | £50,000 – £2m | Any | 12-14 | 7 |
| Gabriel Investment Syndicate | Scotland | £50,000 -£150,000 | Technology | 4-6 | 0 |
| Green Angel Syndicate | UK | £150,000 – £1m | CleanTech | 10 | 2 |
| HBAN | Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland | Individual investments €10,000 – €150,000;syndicated Investments €100,000 -€500,000 | MedTech, software, food & beverage, Agri & CleanTech, manufacturing, engineering | 60 | N/A |
| Kelvin Capital | UK | £500,000 – £2m | Any | 10-12 | 1 |
| Low Carbon Fund | Norfolk, Suffolk, Greater Cambridgeshire, Peterborough, Hertfordshire | £25,000 to £500,000 | Climate tech | 40 | 6 |
| Minerva | UK | £150,000 – £2m | Any | 16 | 4 |
| NorthInvest | Northern England | £25,000 – £1m | Technology, Digital media, FinTech, Big Data, AI, MedTech/HealthTech, Cyber Security, EdTech, Tech For Good | 10 | N/A |
| Seedrs | Europe | £85,000 avg | Any | 250 | 14 |
| SFC Capital | UK | £100,000 -£500,000 | Any | 50 | 4 |
Top 20 angel investor networks
Advantage Business Angels
Bio: Adantage Business Angles has raised equity for small businesses since 2003. It is highly selective about businesses it backs, having raised £3m since 2016. Seventy per cent of clients raise some or all of the money sought.
Regions covered: UK
Investment size: £25,000 – £300,000; more if there is co-investment, which they encourage.
Sectors covered: SaaS, Fintech, EdTech, some MedTech, propositions which meet a clearly palpable need and have a robust revenue model.
Number of investments a year: Approx 10
Examples of previous investments: White Label Loyalty, Previsico, The Bunch, Beaconsoft and LightPoint Medical.
Number of successful exits: one so far (ThinCats)
Website: www.advantagebusinessangels.co.uk
Contact: john@advantagebusinessangels.co.uk
Tel: 07768 650783
AngelClubRCA
Bio: AngelClubRCA is an investment network established in late 2015. Its purpose is to promote and encourage commercial enterprise in the UK by connecting early-stage high potential Royal College of Art start-ups and spinouts with investor members. It introduces UK companies set up by Royal College of Art students, staff or graduates with investors irrespective of location.
Regions covered: UK
Investment size: Typically raising £100,00 – £500,000 and minimum investment can be as little as £10,000.
Sectors covered: any
Number of investments a year: 5-15
Examples of previous investments: GravitySketch, Ananas Anam, Klydo, TG0 and Ichtheon.
Number of successful exits: No exits to date
Website: www.rca.ac.uk/research-innovation/innovationrca/angelclubrca/
Contact: angelclub@rca.ac.uk
Angels Den
Bio: Angels Den Funding is an online investment platform that makes it simple for investors to own shares in early-stage companies with great potential. Using artificial intelligence combined with its team’s experience, it is constantly improving its start-up selection process. This is to ensure that investors have access to businesses that meet the highest standards.
Regions covered: UK
Investment size: £100,000- £1m
Sectors covered: any
Number of investments a year: 40
Previous investments: 270 including Dream Reality Interactive, SGMA and AAZZUR Limited.
Number of successful exits: 7
Website: www.angelsden.com
Contact: info@angelsden.com
Angels Invest Wales
Bio: Angels Invest Wales, part of the Development Bank of Wales, is the biggest angel network in Wales, connecting experienced investors with Welsh businesses seeking private investment.
Regions covered: Wales
Investment size: Considers all sizes of investment
Sectors covered: any
Number of investments a year: Around 30
Previous investments: Angels Invest Wales does not directly invest into businesses – it showcases investment opportunities to its 200-strong network for investment consideration
Number of successful exits: N/A
Website: www.developmentbank.wales/other-services/angels-invest-wales
Contact: info@developmentbank.wales
Dorset Business Angels
Bio: Dorset Business Angels provides quality, private equity investment opportunities to local high net worth and sophisticated investors and helps early-stage businesses find equity capital (especially in southern England). It does this by bringing its investors and entrepreneurs together to accelerate the growth of early-stage businesses. Dorset Business Angels is a private limited company by guarantee, funded from investment commissions.
Regions covered: All UK with focus on the South
Investment size: £50,000-£1m, but consider up to £3m
Sectors covered: any
Number of investments a year: Around five. They have five pitches every three months with some occasional one-off opportunities on its website between its quarterly events.
Examples of previous investments: Genesis, Wriggle, ViewRanger and OnBuy.
Number of successful exits: 5
Website: www.dorsetbusinessangels.co.uk
Contact: contact@dorsetbusinessangels.co.uk
DSW Angels
Bio: DSW Angels is an early-stage investor in scale-up businesses requiring venture funding primarily on an EIS basis. It is funded by a growing network of high-net-worth angel investors, alongside a £10m commitment from British Business Investments as part of the Regional Angels Programme.
Regions covered: UK
Investment size: £300,000 – £1m
Sectors covered: Primarily software, digital and other technology businesses; but will invest in businesses in other sectors with a scalable model, protectable market positions and talented founders.
Number of investments a year: 4-5
Examples of previous investments: Avanite, PopTop, Shopblocks, ACAI and OneUtilityBill.
Number of successful exits: No exits to date
Website: www.dsw-angels.com
Contact: info@dsw-angels.com
Envestors Private Investment Club
Bio: Envestors Private Investment Club (EPIC) matches sophisticated investors and high-growth businesses to create deeper relationships and more impressive results. Since 2004, it has helped more than 200 high growth businesses raise more than £100m. EPIC is a division of Envestors, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Regions covered: UK
Investment size: £250,000-£5m
Sectors covered: Tech, cleantech, fintech, medtech, edtech.
Number of investments a year: 15
Examples of previous investments: Chargemaster, Ebury, Pod, PayasUgym, PowerX and Lightpoint Medical.
Number of successful exits: 21 including Chargemaster which was acquired by BP in 2018 for £129m.
Website: www.envestors.co.uk
Contact: +44 (0)20 7240 0202
Equity Gap
Bio: Established in 2010 to help match private investors with young entrepreneurial companies looking for early stage business funding, Equity Gap is an Edinburgh-based business angel syndicate with 150 active members.
Equity Gap’s current membership includes many captains of industry, business leaders, academics and entrepreneurs from Scotland and beyond, a number of whom are ex-pats or former residents, all eager support early stage companies in Scotland.
Those young entrepreneurial businesses are often pre-revenue, but with a validated product or service that has undergone a pre-investment commercialisation process. Ideally, the investment should be eligible for SEIS/EIS advance assurance and preferably the business should be based in Scotland or willing to relocate. More on Equity Gap’s investment criteria here.
Equity Gap typically invests a minimum of £100,000 and maximum of £500,000 at initial or seed investment stage with additional match funding from Scottish Enterprise’s investment arm, The Scottish Investment Bank (SIB). However, it regularly achieves successful co-investment partnerships with other business angel syndicates and SIB which means more sizeable investments into scale-up opportunities across a wide range of sectors in Scotland.
Winners of the UKBAA’s ‘Most Active Investor in the Regions’ award in 2019, Equity Gap members currently invest in over 30 companies, leveraging over £70m in total investment into its growing portfolio.
Regions covered: Scotland (and those businesses willing to relocate to Scotland)
Investment size: Between £100,000 – £500,000
Sectors covered: Business product, consumer product, fintech, food & drink, gaming, energy, life science, and SAAS. They do not invest in retail or property.
Number of investments a year: 5
Previous investments: 32 including Digital Sports Arena, Earthbound Games and My1Login.
Number of successful exits: No exits to date
Website: www.equitygap.co.uk
Contact: enquiries@equitygap.co.uk
Finstock Capital
Bio: Finstock provides early-stage debt solutions for businesses looking to extend their cash flow runway in a non-dilutive manner. Finstock has provided more than £13m of capital to early-stage businesses, working on bespoke routes for companies alongside their current investors.
Regions covered: UK
Investment size: £100,000 – £2m
Sectors covered: Any
Number of investments a year: 30
Previous investments: Not disclosed
Number of successful exits: Not disclosed
Website: www.finstockcapital.com
Contact: info@finstockcapital.com
Tel: 0208 834 1161
Green Angel Syndicate
Bio: Green Angel Syndicate is the only angel investment syndicate in the UK specialising in the fight against climate change and global warming.
Regions covered: UK
Investment size: £150,000 – £1m
Sectors covered: Cleantech
Number of investments a year: 10
Previous investments: 23 including Scottish Bee Company, BuyMeOnce, Better Origins and Good Club.
Number of successful exits: 2
Website: www.greenangelsyndicate.com
Contact: nick@greenangelsyndicate.com
Halo Business Angel Network
Bio: Halo Business Angel Network (HBAN) is the all-island umbrella group responsible for the development of business angel networks and syndicates. Through actively working to support the formation and operation of new and existing angel networks, as well as to increase the number of angel investors in early-stage Irish companies, HBAN support the entrepreneurial community across the island of Ireland.
Regions covered: Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Investment size: €10,000-€150,000, syndicated investments €100,000-€500,000
Sectors covered: MedTech/Lifesciences, software & technology, food & beverage, agri and cleantech, and manufacturing and engineering.
Number of investments a year: 60 plus
Examples of previous investments: Soopa, Moocall, Gourmet Fuel, Payslip, Storyful and Bluedrop Medical.
Number of successful exits: Total amount not given. See here more information.
Website: www.hban.org
Contact: info@hban.org
Kelvin Capital
Bio: Kelvin Capital is a Scottish-based private investment group that provides venture capital to UK based businesses with high growth potential and the ability to scale internationally. Although it is sector agnostic, it is focused on companies who are revenue generating or close to commercialisation.
Regions covered: UK
Investment size: £500,000 -£2m
Sectors covered: Any
Number of investments a year: 10-12
Examples of previous investments: Snappy Shopper, Novosound, Logan Energy, Sofant Technologies, Biotangents, ScotBio, Chromacity, Pro Factor Pharma, QED Naval, Pyreos, Novel Technology Holdings, Clear Surgical, Ingenius Audio, Imetafilm, Plan Bee.
Number of successful exits: 1
Website: www.kelvincapital.com
Contact: theteam@kelvincapital.com
Low Carbon Innovation Fund
Bio: Low Carbon Innovation Fund LCIF2 is a venture capital fund investing in SMEs developing environmentally beneficial products and services . LCIF2’s fund manager, Turquoise, has a long track record in energy, environment and efficiency venture capital, including the investment and management of the first Low Carbon Innovation Fund (LCIF1), which invested £21m, helping (often as a leading investor) complete funding rounds worth £75m.
Regions covered: Norfolk, Suffolk, Greater Cambridgeshire & Peterborough and Hertfordshire.
Investment size: £25,000 to £500,000 per round
Sectors covered: Any businesses that are making a measurable impact on greenhouse gas reduction, through the development of technologies, products and/or services.
Number of investments a year: Circa 40
Examples of previous investments: Cube Cleantech, Futurenova, Trident and Sustainable Marine Energy.
Number of successful exits: 6
Website: www.lowcarbonfund.co.uk
Contact: lcif@uea.ac.uk
Manchester Angels
Bio: Manchester Angels is a collective of leading tech figures in one of the UK’s fastest growing tech hubs and the surrounding North-West region.
There are currently just under 40 angels who use their own capital to back tech startups and scaleups and there have been seven deals to date.
Regions covered: Manchester and across the North-West
Investment size: £50,000 – £300,000
Sectors covered: Tech, life sciences and IP-rich businesses
Number of investments a year: around 7
Examples of previous investments: Molymen, Twine, Hace
Number of successful exits: 0
Website: manchesterangels.org
Contact: info@manangels.co.uk
Minerva
Bio: Minerva is an angel network and the largest syndicated network in the UK with 10 syndicates based in the Midlands, London and North West. It is part of the University of Warwick Science Park Ltd, which started in 1994 and has existed in its current format since 2010.
Minerva also works with a collection of delivery partners which includes the universities of Aston, Birmingham, Liverpool John Moore, Loughborough, Nottingham and Nottingham Trent plus Daresbury Science Park and the Black Country Growth Hub. Minerva works to a not for profit objective and delivers its programme Pitch Up as Minerva Birmingham, (the replacement of West Midlands Pitchfest) which supports both startups and scaleups. Companies must be EIS/SEIS eligible.
Regions covered: UK
Investment size: £150,000 – £2m
Sectors covered: Tech agnostic
Number of investments a year: Circa 16
Previous investments: Circa 100 including Trackener, Learning Labs, Thincats and The Electrospinning Company.
Number of successful exits: 4
Website: www.minerva.uk.net
Contact: enquiries@minerva.uk.net
NorthInvest
Bio: NorthInvest is a not-for-profit investment organisation and angel network based in Leeds. Founded in 2018 by Professor Adam Beaumont and aligned with the Northern Powerhouse, NorthInvest helps facilitate equity investment for early stage tech and digital start-ups across the North of England.
Regions covered: Northern England – Cheshire & Warrington, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Hull & Humberside City Region, Lancashire, Leeds City Region, Liverpool City Region, North East, Sheffield City Region, Tees Valley, York, North Yorkshire & East Riding, Northern Wales.
Investment size: £25,000 – £1m
Sectors covered: Technology, digital media, FinTech, big data, AI, MedTech/HealthTech, cybersecurity, EdTech, Tech For Good
Number of investments a year: 10
Examples of previous investments: GoBubble, Renephra, Vital Signs Solutions, Edgetic, Immersify Education, PopTop UK, bikeZaar, One Utility Bill, Evince Technology, Dales Land Net, Guardian Angel, m2be and Dyman Advanced Materials.
Number of successful exits: No exits to date
Website: www.northinvest.co.uk
Contact: info@northinvest.co.uk
Seedrs
Bio: Seedrs is the UK’s leading equity crowdfunding platform, funding over 1,100 deals to date with over £940m invested on the platform. Seedrs allows investors to buy and sell shares in private companies, and for ambitious entrepreneurs to gain investment for their businesses, building communities in the process.
All investments made through Seedrs offer voting shares to investors and use professional-grade subscription agreements. This ensures that investors get the same level of protection that angel investors and venture capitalists enjoy.
Seedrs is backed by leading European institutional investors as well as over 4,300 of its own customers. Seedrs is authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority.
Investment size: Investment size can vary with the average being £85,000.
Sectors covered: FinTech, food and beverage, travel, leisure and sport, Insurtech, Welltech and sustainability.
Number of investments a year: 250
Examples of previous investments: Howsy, WiseAlpha, Pollen
Number of successful exits: 14 including most recent exits ANNA Money, Igloo Energy, PodPoint and Courier Magazine.
Website: www.seedrs.com
Contact: support@seedrs.com
SFC Capital
Bio: SFC Capital (formerly Startup Funding Club) is a leading early-stage investment firm providing capital and support to British startups. By combining its Angel Network and Seed Funds, SFC has created a unique model that allows investors to get exposure to SEIS- and EIS-qualifying businesses, either directly or through a diversified portfolio curated and managed by SFC’s expert team. SFC is recognised by Pitchbook as the UK’s most active VC, and has received a £10m allocation from Business Investments as part of the Regional Angels Programme.
Regions covered: UK
Investment size: £100,000 – £500,000
Sectors covered: Advertising and publishing, aerospace and defence, automobile and transport, business products and services, clean tech and eco innovation, computing and electronics, consumer and e-commerce, consumer technology, creative arts and entertainment, digital media and content, fashion and design, FinTech, financial and professional services, food and drink, healthcare, MedTech and digital health, Internet of Things, life sciences, logistics and distribution, materials and manufacturing, mobile and telecoms, renewables and energy, retail, social impact.
Number of investments a year: 50
Examples of previous investments: 220+ including Onfido, Cognism, Transcend Packaging and Humanising Autonomy.
Number of successful exits: 4
Website: www.startupfundingclub.com
Contact: www.sfccapital.com/about-us
Solid Bond
Bio: Solid Bond invests at pre-seed and early seed stage. They focus more on the ability to work well with a founder rather than a sector focus, but they do specialise in marketing, finance, product and tech. They are based in the North West, but invest in businesses across the UK.
Regions covered: UK-wide
Investment size: £50,000 – £1 million
Sectors covered: Sector agnostic, except life sciences, engineering, deep tech, gambling and alcohol
Number of investments a year: 3 to 4
Examples of previous investments: ClickSit, Pharmacy Innovation Lab, InHaus
Number of successful exits: 0
Website: solidbond.com
Contact: contact@solidbond.com
The FSE Group
Bio: The FSE Group is a VC investing in early-stage, high-growth SMEs. It manages funds on behalf of public and private stakeholders providing equity finance to investees. The FSE team focuses on business potential and works alongside entrepreneurs and SME business owners to help them achieve their growth ambitions. Alongside its fund investment activity, the FSE Group operates a business angel investor network. This service is aimed exclusively at active angel investors, experienced or novice, who are seeking to make new investments in high growth UK companies alongside FSE funds.
Regions covered: Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire and Cornwall.
Investment size: £50,000 – £2m (depending on location)
Sectors covered: any
Number of investments a year: 12-14
Previous investments: 63
Number of successful exits: 7
Website: www.thefsegroup.com
Contact: fundingenquiries@thefsegroup.com
Tel: 01276 608510
Further reading
How to find and pitch your business to an angel investor – Jenny Tooth, CEO of the UK Business Angels Association, offers some expert tips
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